DETROIT — Rampage Jackson has repeatedly stated his belief that he is a fighter, and Lyoto Machida is a mixed martial artist, and that there is a significant difference. The former has a willingness to take risks and endanger himself in an attempt to finish the fight; the latter is more prone to take the safe route to victory.
But Jackson said there’s a price to pay for what he belives is Machida’s reluctance to engage: he doesn’t know how to take a hit. Jackson said it’s a fact that became obvious to him while watching Machida’s most recent fights.
“I watched that fight with Shogun,” he said. “No disrespect to Machida, but he was punching at the same time. They punched at the same time, and me being a fighter, I could tell that that wasn’t a really strong punch that dropped him. It comes with a price, not getting hit. So that tells me that if he’s not getting hit in fights, he damn sure ain’t getting hit in sparring.